Bowling ball grip measuring device



March 8, 1966 c. D. SNAKARD 3,233,628

BOWLING BALL GRIP MEASURING DEVICE Filed June 12, 1963 Z'Sheecs-Sheet 1IN VEN TOR giczrZa Z7 Ema/(42rd,

March 8, 1966 c. D. SNAKARD 3,238,628

BOWLING BALL GRIP MEASURING DEVICE Filed June 12, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2IN VENTOR.

United States Patent 3,238,628 BOWLING BALL GRIP MEASURING DEVICECharles D. Snakard, Evanston, Ill., assignor, by mesne assignments, toStowe-Woodward, Inc., Newton Upper Falls, Mass, a corporation ofMassachusetts Filed June 12, 1963, Ser. No. 287,366 Claims. (Cl. 33-174)This invention relates to a grip determining method and device forbowlers and more particularly, to a method and apparatus by which thecorrect location of the finger holes in a bowling ball may be quicklyand accurately determined.

Many elaborate devices have been developed for use in determining wherethe finger holes and thumb hole should be drilled for the purchaser of anew bowling ball. The method and device described below have beendeveloped principally to provide a means of marketing bowling balls on amail order basis, or through a so called catalog store. In order forsuch a device to be useful in this manner, it must necessarily be quiteinexpensive, and furthermore, quite simple, both in its construction andoperation. As a matter of fact, it must be capable of being incorporatedin a form that is inexpensive enough and simple enough to be used as amailing piece, for distribution to customers seeking to purchase abowling ball drilled to fit their particular grip.

Another object is to provide a device which can be made of suitablyflexible material, so that its size can be substantially reduced byrolling the material into a compact form for mailing purposes.

Still another object is to provide such a device which is lightweightenough to be readily mailable but sufliciently durable to surviverelatively rough handling.

Another object is to'provide a grip determining device which, althoughsimple and inexpensive, is sufficiently accurate to permit the span orgrip measurements to be taken remotely by a customer, and then have thisinformation forwarded to a supplier, who will then send an appropriatelydrilled ball back to the customer.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become evident asthe description proceeds and from an examination of the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate several embodiments of the invention and inwhich similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view in elevation of one form of device incorporating theinvention showing the right and left hand thumb holes and a portion ofthe span scales for the fingers. I FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the formof device shown in FIGURE 1 with the hand of a user being shown (indotted lines) disposed in place for measuring the span of the fingerholes.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a finger hole card gauge for use indetermining the proper diameter for the thumb and finger holes.

FIGURE 4 is a view in elevation of a grip determining device of the formshown in FIGURE 1 rolled upon itself to the degree permitted by theflexible nature of the material from which it is formed.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the inventionincorporating devices such as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 mounted inassociation on a support and particularly suitable for counter use.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic representation of the manner in which thespan of the middle finger and ring finger may be measured from a thumbhole, in a spherical bowling ball.

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic representation of the way the general methodof span measurement illustrated in 3,238,628 Patented Mar. 8, 1966FIGURE 6 is incorporated in the scales of the form of the inventionshown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic showing of the manner in which the fingerholes are preferably laid out on a bowling ball, once the span has beendetermined by use of the method and a device which is the subject of thepresent invention.

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of a preferred form of layout gauge adapted tobe used with the grip determining device incorporating the invention.

FIGURE 10 is an alternative embodiment of a grip determining deviceincorporating the invention having only one thumb hole but being usefulfor both left and right handed users.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2, a grip determining devicejembodyingone form of the invention is shown therein, indicated generally by thenumeral 10. This member 10 is in the form of a segment of a sphere whichmay preferably be formed of a thin sheet-like material. At least onethumb hole 12 is provided in the surface of the spherical segment 10which makes the device useful for a right-handed bowler. Preferably asecond thumb hole 14 is also provided in spaced relation to the firstthumb hole 12 which makes the device equally useful for a lefthandedbowler. A pair of spaced scales 16 and 18 are disposed symmetricallybetween the two thumb holes 12 and 14, and somewhat above them, so thatone scale will e adapted to underlie the middle finger, and the otherthe ring finger, when the thumb of a user is fully inserted in one ofthe thumb holes, as shown in the dotted line representation of a righthand in FIGURE 2. As there shown, the thumb 20 of the right hand of theuser is inserted in the thumb hole 12 and the middle finger 22 is shownin overlying relationship with the scale 16, whereas the ring finger 24is shown in overlying relationship with the scale 18.

' Obviously, if a users left hand were placed on the grip determiningdevice, the left thumb would be inserted in the thumb hole 14 and themiddle finger would overlie the scale 18 and the ring finger overlie thescale 16. Furthermore, it is apparent that such a device could be madefor only right handed bowlers and in such instance the thumb hole 14would be omitted. The preferred relationship between the thumb holes andthe scales will be discussed in more detail below.

As shown in FIGURE 4 the spherical segment 10 may be formed of thinsheet material having substantial flexibility, so that it can be rolledsufliciently to substantially reduce its volume, and to produce asubstantially ellipsoidal element which is capable of being inserted ina container such as a mailing tube. Any suitable material can beutilized for fabrication of the spherical segment, such as a polystyreneplastic. A sheet .015 inch in thickness has been satisfactorily utilizedto form a self-supporting spherical segment, or shell, but which is alsocapable of being rolled into the form shown in FIGURE 4. It ispreferable that a slight bead 26 be formed along the base of thesegment, as shown in FIGURE 1, to reduce the likelihood of damage tothat edge when the segment is so rolled. The segment need not becompletely self-supporting in the sense of forming a true segment of asphere in normal repose, since if somewhat flexible is still can becaused to assume the spherical shape in Which it was originally moldedby placing it on a flat supporting surface such as a table top with theedge containing the head 26 in contact therewith and exerting a downwardpressure thereon with the hand so that it expands to its fullcircumference, and forms a substantially rigid spherical surface.

Our course, it is also possible to form the spherical segment either asa solid or as a rigid shell, but in such instance it is not capable ofbeing deformed into the sub- 3 stantially ellipsoidal form shown inFIGURE 4. Such a rigid type of element is shown in FIGURE 5 in the formof the spherical segment 28 which is permanently associated with asupporting base member 30 adapted to be utilized on a counter or thelike.

The grip determining device is designed only to measure the'span or gripof the user. In order to custom fit a purchasers hand to a ball, it istherefore necessary to have available a means of determining thediameter of the thumb hole and finger holes which will be required bythe user. Such a finger hole gauge is shown in FIGURE 3 and is indicatedgenerally by the numeral 32. This element may take the form of a simplecard gauge having a plurality of holes 34 formed therein of varyingdiameter. With such a gauge the individual utilizing the gripdetermining device can establish the diameter of the holes necessary toaccommodate the thumb and fingers, in addition to the span or grip. Sucha card member as the device 32 shown in FIGURE 3 may be formed so thatit may be folded along the line 34, which will permit it to be packagedwith a grip determining device of the form shown in FIGURES 1 and 2,when it has been rolled into the form shown in FIGURE 4.

On the other hand, the finger hole gauge may also be incorporated with amore permanent form of grip determining device such as shown in FIGURE5. There the finger hole gauge 35 is also of a more permanent nature,being formed as a plurality of holes 36 in the top surface 38 of thebase 30 below the spherical segment 28.

Because of the rigid nature of the segment 28, each of the scalesprovided thereon, such as the scale 40, may also have associatedtherewith a slot 42 in which a marker 44 is adapted to slide. Such amarker or index may be set at a particular position to record theprecise reading obtained on the scale in the measurement of a particularusers grip. After obtaining the span measurements for the fingers inthis way, the diameter of the hole required for those fingers and thethumb can be determined by use of the gauge 35.

The specific manner in which the grip determining device 10 is utilizedis best shown in FIGURE 2. As indicated therein by the dotted linerepresentation of the hand of the user, the fully extended thumb 20 isinserted in the thumb hole 12, and the middle and ring fingers aredisposed over the two scales 16 and 18, respectively, with the hand inthe fully spread position. A reading is taken on each of the scales,corresponding to the location of the crease associated with the middleknuckle on the palm side of the finger. These two readings (or one, inthe case of a two finger ball) form the information necessary todetermine the location of the finger holes with respect to the thumbhole, or the span. The hole diameter that will be required by aparticular user for each finger and thumb hole can be determined readilyfrom the finger gauge, such as the gauge 32 shown in FIGURE 3, byfinding the particular hole in which the finger or thumb fits snugly butcan be readily withdrawn. With this information, a ball can be properlydrilled to fit a particular hand. The preferred method of accomplishingthe transfer of the information obtained from the grip determiningdevice as just described, is illustrated in FIGURES 6, 7 and 8. As shownin FIGURE 6, a plurality of concentric circles can be inscribed on abowling ball utilizing the point 46, corresponding to the center of thethumb hole 48, as the center of the concentric circles. These circlesthemselves could form a gauge, such as that shown in FIG- URE 6, and ifthe hand of a bowler were placed on the ball in the manner shown indotted lines, with the thumb fully inserted in the thumb hole 48, theline or crease on the palm side of the middle and ring fingersimmediately below the middle knuckle would fall at a particular point onthe scale so formed by the concentric circles. The points 52 and 54,illustrate in FIGURE 6 the location of the crease lines in the fingers,as described. Because of the physical configuration of the human hand,these points are offset substantially from the thumb and the thumb hole48. If the concentric lines forming the scale were full circles on thesurface of the ball, the measurement would be the same regardless of theorientation of the hand with respect to a particular point on the ball.In other words, with the thumb fully inserted in the hole 48, the handcould be rotated completely around the ball and the points 52 and 54thereon would fall continuously on the same lines or points of thescale. Such a scale, as shown in FIGURE 6, could be utilized in the gripdetermining device 10, but it has been found that a scale of this natureis not readily understood by the average person and therefore, is notwell accepted.

To overcome this problem, scales of the more conventional form shown inFIGURE 2 are placed on the spherical segment 10, rather than theconcentric circles shown in FIGURE 6. These scales are placed in amanner such that it will be natural for the user to place his fingersover them, after he has inserted his thumb in the thumb hole, andtherefore, a correct measurement can readily be obtained by the userwithout personal supervision. The relationship to the concentric circletype of scale shown in FIGURE 6 of the scales shown in FIGURE 2 isillustrated in FIGURE 7. The indices on the scales 62 and 64 mark whatwould be the points of intersection by scales 62 and 64 with theconcentric scale lines of FIGURE 6.

In addition to the relationship just mentioned, the preferred form shownin FIGURE 2 also has a thumb hole such as the hole 48 with a diameter of1% inches and the reference line 56 is disposed at right angles to theline 58, which is an extended diameter of the thumb hole 48. The line 56is preferably at a distance of A of an inch from the center 46 of thethumb hole. The base line of the two scales is located at a point on theline 56 at which an extended radius 60 of the hole 48 intersects theline 56, when the distance along the line 60 from the edge of the thumbhole to the line 56 is 2% inches. The two scales 62 and 63 arepreferably disposed 7 of an inch apart at the lowermost point, and of aninch apart at the uppermost point, the scales themselves beingpreferably 3 /s inches in length. All of these dimensions, of course,are for a bowling ball of standard diameter. As mentioned the points ofintersection of the concentric circles forming the scale shown in FIGURE6 with the edges of the scales 62 and 64 become scale marks of thescales 62 and 64.

The preferred way in which the information for the span or grip obtainedfrom the grip fitting device may be transmitted to a new bowling ballfor drilling is illustrated in FIGURES 8 and 9. If the points 52 and 54,for example, shown in FIGURE 7, have been located on the scales 62 and64, they can be laid out on a ball by the use of a conventional markinggauge, such as is illustrated in FIG- URE 9. The gauge is indicatedgenerally by the numeral 66 and is formed as a segment of a sphericalshell. It has a central axis 68 and a tongue member 70 extending atright angles to the upper edge 72 of the guage. A slot 74 is provided inthe gauge immediately adjacent the center line 68, and a scale 76 isprovided on one edge of the slot.

The tongue 70 is of an inch in width, in such a conventional gauge whichestablishes a standard distance between the peripheries of the fingerholes in drilling a bowling ball, but not a standard distance betweentheir centers. The larger the diameters of the finger holes, the largerwill be the distance between centers.

When the proper position of the thumb and finger holes is to be markedon a blank, undrilled ball, the gauge 66 is preferably disposed on thesurface of the ball so that the manufacturers identification, indicatedby the dotted lines 78, falls substantially in the center of the gauge,and the balance point 80, which is provided on every ball, will be linedup with the center line 68. The two edges 82 and 72, then form lines oftangency to the hole for the middle finger, it being given a diameteridentical with that measured by the finger gauge to be the appropriatesize. The thumb hole is then located by use of the scale 76 to establishthe span between the periphery thereof and the periphery of the middlefinger hole.

The ring finger hole is then located by disposing the scale 76 so as toprovide the measured span between the periphery of the thumb hole andthat of the ring finger hole. The latter is again located so that theedge 84 and the edge 72 are tangentially disposed to a hole of theappropriate diameter for the ring finger. Although a constant spacing isestablished by the tongue 70 between the finger holes, it is apparent,as mentioned above, that the centers of these holes will be fartherapart when the holes are of larger diameter than the centers are if theholes are of smaller diameter. There is, therefore, a naturalaccommodation for larger sized hands in the distance separating thecenters of the finger holes.

The relationship of the manner in which the holes are laid out with thegauge 66 to the concentric circle form of scale is shown in FIGURE 8.

An alternative embodiment of a grip determinining device incorporatingthe invention having only one thumb hole but being useful for both leftand right handed users, is shown in FIGURE 10. In this form of device, athumb hole 86 is provided similar to the thumb hole 12 shown in FIGURES1 and 2. This alternative form inc udes a spherical segment 86 of thesame general form as the segment shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. However, onlya single thumb hole 88 is provided which may be used either by a lefthanded or a right handed bowler. Two pairs of scales are disposed on thesurface of the spherical member 86, the scales 90 and 92 being adaptedfor use by a right handed bowler and the scales 94 and 96 being adaptedfor use by a left handed bowler, substantially in the same manner aspreviously described for the embodiment shown in FIGURES l and 2.

Upon close examination, it will be noted that the scales 90 and 92 havea relation to the thumb hole 88 that is similar to the relation that thescales 16 and 18 have to the thumb hole 12. The principal difference isthat the scale 92 is somewhat shorter than the scale 18. Likewise, thescales 94 and 96 have a similar relation to the thumb hole 88 as do thescales 16 and 18 to the thumb hole 14. The manner of use of the form ofdevice shown in FIGURE 10 is the same as that shown in FIGURES l and 2,except for the fact that the same thumb hole is used for both hands.

In the drawing and specification, there has been set forth severalembodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation. Changes in form and in the proportion of parts,as well as the substitution of equivalents are contemplated, ascircumstances may suggest or render expedient, without departing fromthe spirit or scope of this invention as further defined in thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A bowling ball grip measuring device which comprises a shell member,said shell member being formed from a segment of relatively thinflexible sheet material that is collapsible into a rolled configurationand that forms a hemispherical measuring surface with a radius equal tothat of a conventional bowling ball when the edge thereof is supportedon a plane under slight pressure, at least one thumb hole formed in saidshell member so as to receive the extended thumb of a user whose grip isto be measured when the hand of the user is placed in measuringorientation on said hemispherical measuring surface formed by the shellmember, and means defining a pair of spaced scales on said shell memberincluding a plurality of scale marks that mark the location of points onequally spaced circles concentric with the said thumb hole, said definedscale marks being disposed relative to said thumb hole so as to underliethe midd e and ring finger of the hand of a user when disposed inmeasuring orientation on said hemispherical measuring surface.

2. A grip determining device for bowlers comprising a normallycollapsible shell member formed of relatively thin flexible materialhaving a substantially hemispherical configuration with a radius equalto a conventional bowling ball when supported along its edge underslight pressure by a planar surface, a pair of spaced thumb holes insaid shell member and a pair of scales on said spherical shell memberequidistant and symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of a linenormal to and bisecting a second line joining the centers of said thumbholes, said scales comprising a plurality of scale marks marking thelocation of a portion of equally spaced circles concentric with saidthumb hole, said marks being adapted to underlie the middle and ringfinger of said hand of said user when so applied to said shell member.

3. A grip determining device for bowlers comprising a normallycollapsible shell member formed of relatively thin flexible materialhaving a substantially hemispherical configuration with a radius equalto a conventional bowling ball when supported along its edge underslight pressure by a planar surface, a pair of spaced thumb holes insaid shell member, one of which is adapted to receive the extended thumbof a right handed bow er, and the other of which is adapted to receivethe extended thumb of a left handed bowler, and a pair of spaced scaleson said shell member, one scale of said pair being adapted to underliethe middle finger of said right handed user and the other of said scalesbeing adapted to underlie the ring finger of said right handed user,respectively, when the thumb is fully inserted in said thumb hole for aright handed bowler and the fingers are spread on said surface in normalball-gripping relation to each other, said scales being disposed in suchspaced relation as to permit the read-ing of the position of the middleknuckle of each said finger on the scale which it overlies, said scalesbeing adapted to likewise underlie the ring and middle fingers,respectively, of a left handed user when the thumb is fully inserted insaid thumb hole for a left handed bowler.

4. A grip determining device for bowlers comprising a normallycollapsible shell member formed of relatively thin flexible materialhaving a substantially hemispherical configuration with a radius equalto that of a conventional bowling ball, a thumb hole in said shellmember capable of receiving the extended thumb of the user and a pair ofspaced scales on said surface extending away from said hole at an angleto a line bisecting said hole, and a second pair of spaced scales onsaid shell member extending away from said hole at an angle to and onthe opposite side of said line bisecting said hole.

5. A grip determining device for bowlers comprising a normallycollapsible shell member formed of relatively thin flexible materialhaving a substantially hemispherical configuration with a radius equalto that of a conventional bowling ball, a thumb hole in said shellmember capable of receiving the extended thumb of the user and two pairsof spaced scales on said surface, one scale of each said pair beingadapted to underlie the middle finger of said user and the other of saidscales being adapted to underlie the ring finger of said user,respectively, when the thumb is fully inserted in said thumb hole andthe fingers are spread on said surface in normally extended relation toeach other, said scales in each pair being disposed in such spacedrelation as to permit the reading of the position of the middle knuckleof each said finger on the scale which it overlies, said readings beingtaken on the sides of said fingers lying adjacent to each other, onepair of scales of said two pairs being disposed to so cooperate with thefingers of a right handed user when the thumb of the right hand is soinserted in said thumb hole, and the other pair of scales being disposedto so cooperate 7 8 with the fingers of a left handed user when thethumb of 2,207,404 7/ 1940 Hinkley the left hand is so inserted in saidthumb hole. 2,242,980 5/1941 Nicholas 2,516,694 7/1950 GillettReferences C1ted by the Examiner 2,622,330 952 Neiman UNITED STATESPATENTS 5 Mahlfir 0 Primary Examiner. 2, 7/ 1937 Collier 33174 LEONARDFQRMAN, Examiner, 2,207,403 7/1940 Hinkley 33174 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent NO. 3,238,628 March 8, 1966Charles D. Snakard It is hereby certified that error appears in theabove numbered patent requiring correction and that the said LettersPatent should read as corrected below.

Column 2, line 62, for "is" read it line 70, for "Our" read Of column 4,line 38, for "63" read 64 column 6, line 10, for shell member" readsurface lines 46 and 58, after "ball", each occurrence, insert whensupported along its edge under slight pressure by a planar surface lines47 and 59, after "user", each occurrence, insert when the hand of saiduser is applied to said shell member same column 6, line 60, for"surface" read shell member Signed and sealed this 24th day of January1967. (SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents

1. A BOWLING BALL GRIP MEASURING DEVICE WHICH COMPRISES A SHELL MEMBER,SAID SHELL MEMBER BEING FORMED FROM A SEGMENT OF RELATIVELY THINFLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL THAT IS COLLAPSIBLE INTO A ROLLED CONFIGURATIONAND THAT FORMS A HEMISPHERICAL MEASURING SURFACE WITH A RADIUS EQUAL TOTHAT OF A CONVENTIONAL BOWLING BALL WHEN THE EDGE THEREOF IS SUPPORTEDON A PLANE UNDER SLIGHT PRESSURE, AT LEAST ONE THUMB HOLE FORMED IN SAIDSHELL MEMBER SO AS TO RECEIVE THE EXTENDED THUMB OF A USER WHOSE GRIP ISTO BE MEASURED WHEN THE HAND OF THE USER IS PLACED IN MEASURINGORIENTATION ON SAID HEMISPHERICAL MEASURING SURFACE FORMED BY THE SHELLMEMBER, AND MEANS DEFINING A PAIR OF SPACED SCALES ON SAID SHELL MEMBERINCLUDING A PLURALITY OF SCALE MARKS THAT MARK THE LOCATION OF POINTS ONEQUALLY SPACED CIRCLES CONCENTRIC WITH THE SAID THUMB HOLE, SAID DEFINEDSCALE MARKS BEING DISPOSED RELATIVE TO SAID THUMB HOLE SO AS TO UNDERLIETHE MIDDLE AND RING FINGER OF THE HAND OF A USER WHEN DISPOSED INMEASURING ORIENTATION ON SAID HEMISPHERICAL MEASURING SURFACE.